The Art of Biography

The Art of Biography

The Art of Biography

Excerpt

To imply that the ten or twelve centuries after Plutarch were barren of biographical material would be incorrect, for a good many biographies were written during that period; indeed, a new and prolific variety sprang up. I refer of course to the lives or acts of the saints. With the spread of Christianity, the men and women who were missionaries and apostles naturally became conspicuous. They formed the dramatis personæ of what we may regard as the Christian counterpart of the classical mythology, with its heroes and demigods. They not only led holy lives, but they possessed superhuman faculties, chief among which was the . . .